School For Frogs
Steven Klepeter


they hop
in speaking
frog

tongues
snapping
flies
crouched on
their haunches
in this living
room of
glass

smell of fish
and mud
used books
dripping swamp
water
on my
classroom
floor

they look me up and down
and smile or at least their
fleshy faces
twist in
recognition
of my dry
skin

and fleecy hair
I write my name on the
board

"we're
green" they
say
"we're yellow
and speckled
brown"

I take roll—

Tonguedarter   Bellybulger  Flygobbler  Greenface
Bumpface   Waterbelcher  Nightcroaker
Slickback  Butterblues  Flem


we have torn the last page on
these back roads
stolen
basement
jugs
from fireflies
and gnats 

we have opened blue taverns of moonlight
mist and snow  tomorrow the curriculum
winds back into midnight, clashes with
inspectors and eddies
in swirling
pools

along the swollen river, bridges rip
from their abutments, tumble
into the long
swim

here at
semester's
end
everyone

bends over
notebooks,
sneaking looks
at the passing
swans  

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